Multi-religious prayer

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A multi-religious prayer is a form of inter-religious prayer . Members of various religious communities take part in such a prayer . Due to the clash of different traditions , saying prayers together ( interreligious prayer ) is often problematic. Hence the concept of multi-religious prayer meetings developed , in which each religion says its own prayers in the presence of other religions.

Interfaith prayer and its problems

An interfaith prayer is a common interfaith prayer in which all participants pray with the same words and signs. The difficulty here is that even with careful preparation, the views of all the religions involved can hardly be expressed equally. Mixing different ideas of God and different rites easily veils existing opposites.

In its “Arbeitshilfe 170”, the Catholic Church points out as a difficulty in prayer in interreligious encounters that prayer for Christians always means praying to the Triune God and that Christians are aware that this trinitarian imprint of their prayer is the contradiction of Jews and Muslims evoke.

In the opinion of the Evangelical Church in Germany , which was presented in the EKD handout “Clarity and Good Neighborhood” in 2006, a common prayer in the sense that Christians and Muslims say a prayer with the same wording together “is not possible according to Christian understanding Christian prayer is directed to the One God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ and works through the Holy Spirit ”. Other differences are also shown: For example, God is addressed by Christians (especially in the Lord's Prayer) as Father, which Islam rejects; in Islamic prayer (especially in the 1st sura, the al-Fātiha of ritual Islamic prayer) a commitment to Islam is expressed. What the EKD has in common among Christians and Muslims is that “prayer brings worship, praise, thanks, lamentation, joy, concern and intercession before God”. Therefore, "Muslims and Christians could inwardly affirm the content of a prayer, for example a request or a complaint, and agree to the matter out of their own beliefs". The EKD describes “respectful participation in the prayer of the respective other religion and, associated with this, the inner attunement to statements that one can make from one's own belief” as legitimate.

The concept of multi-religious prayer

The model of multi-religious prayer and religious encounter ("prayer meeting of religions") avoids these problems by not praying together but in the presence of the other, side by side or one after the other. Followers of different religions come together to pray. Everyone says their own prayer according to their tradition. In “Arbeitshilfe 170”, praying in the presence of the other is understood as “an expression of the common reference to the one God and solidarity with concern for the salvation of people”.

A guest participation in the prayer of another religious community can also be described as multi-religious prayer .

The renouncement of a ritualized prayer that is the same for all participants results from respect for the peculiarities of the other faith and tradition-related differences. In a prayer of this form, no one is taken over by other religions (for example, by syncretistic bringing together of different religious ideas and teachings). A joint, detailed preparation and agreement about commonalities is necessary in any case in order to prevent misunderstandings.

The Assisi Prayer for Peace

The World Prayer Meeting for Peace , which took place in Assisi on October 27, 1986 with representatives of numerous religions, is an example of multi-religious prayer . Pope John Paul II . named the basic principle of religious encounters that one cannot pray together, but that one can be present when the others are praying.

Through this model of multi-religious prayer , believers of various religions could be included in the world prayer meeting and at the same time differences in religious traditions could be respected and preserved. Referring to a statement made by the Pope in his address at the general audience on October 22, 1986, Arbeitshilfe 170 states that this encounter in the form of the prayer meeting in Assisi proves that “religious people, without giving up their respective traditions, can still live in Engage in prayer and be able to work together for peace and the well-being of humanity ”.

The international lay community of Sant'Egidio , founded in Rome in 1968, took on the task of organizing regular follow-up meetings to continue the idea and concern of Assisi (see: World Prayer Meeting ). At follow-up meetings, however - in contrast to the prayer meeting in Assisi - the public prayers of the individual religious representatives, as they had taken place in 1986, were deliberately avoided in order to avoid “negative emotions due to the confrontation with strange rites and texts”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. See "Guidelines for Prayer at Meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims. A Handout of the German Bishops" 2008, pp. 32–35.
  2. See "EKD Declaration. Clarity and Good Neighborhood." 2006, pp. 115-118.
  3. a b See guidelines for prayer at meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims. A handout of the German bishops "2008, p. 33.
  4. ^ Clarity and good neighborliness , pp. 114–115.
  5. Clarity and good neighborliness , pp. 116–117.
  6. See "EKD Declaration. Clarity and Good Neighborhood." 2006, p. 117.
  7. See "EKD Declaration. Clarity and Good Neighborhood." 2006, p. 116.
  8. See "Guidelines for Prayer at Meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims. A Handout of the German Bishops" 2008, pp. 32–35, p. 51.
  9. See "EKD Declaration. Clarity and Good Neighborhood." 2006, pp. 115-118.
  10. John Paul II: "In Assisi: Gathering to Prayer. Address of the Pope at the general audience on October 22, 1986." quoted from: "Working aid No. 170 of the German Bishops' Conference - guidelines for prayer at meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims." 2008, p. 34.
  11. "Guidelines for Prayer at Meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims. A Handout from the German Bishops" 2008, p. 34.
  12. "Working aid No. 170 of the German Bishops' Conference - guidelines for prayer at meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims." 2008, p. 49.
  13. Working aid No. 170 of the German Bishops' Conference - Guidelines for Prayer at Meetings of Christians, Jews and Muslims , p. 49.